The guide is published by the GSEP Energy Management Working Group of the Clean Energy Ministerial. South Africa is one of 11 governments participanting in the GSEP Energy Management Working Group and the only one from Africa.

By following the steps in the guide, M&V practitioners will be able to quantify, with a certain degree of certainty, the impact or performance of a particular implemented measure. This will help ensure the credibility of reported impacts, which can facilitate better decision making by the industry and policymakers as well as investment in energy-saving projects.

“This guide provides much-needed and simple ‘how-to’ instructions for M&V professionals to facilitate a consistent and comparable process for M&V,” explains Karel Steyn, Energy Performance Verification Specialist at Eskom, South Africa, the project lead for this activity. Steyn also notes the guide’s usefulness in the South African context: “With the recent introduction of a tax incentive by the South African government on energy efficiency projects, the guide will be especially relevant in South Africa and is already proving to be an invaluable resource.”

Two South African companies, Veritek and Energy Cybernetics, are pilot-testing the guide as a resource for training energy professionals. Gustav Radloff, Veritek company director, comments, “Using this document as a practical guideline significantly enhances our [Veritek’s] ability to develop M&V plans that consistently conform to the standards we demand.”

The GSEP Energy Management Working Group was formed with the primary goal of accelerating broad use of energy management systems (EnMS) in industry and commercial buildings worldwide. This new guide provides a critical resource for countries and energy managers that are implementing EnMS systems. It will help businesses quantify gains from energy savings, which can build the business case for EnMS, and help policymakers set realistic and ambitious energy efficiency policies.

The guide will also help advance the international energy management standard ISO 50001 by elaborating on the reporting process, which the standard does not currently address. Other governments and stakeholders participating in the Energy Management Working Group will also gain insights from South Africa’s experiences and be able to use the guide to promote education and training among energy professionals.